1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for generating power utilizing a cooling system integrated into a bearing or bearing housing.
2. Background Art
Bearings are used to support many rotating objects. Bearings are commonly integrated into a variety of machines. The bearings are a key factor contributing to the reliability of the machine. The system designed commonly installs one or more bearing condition monitoring devices to ensure the bearings remain in working order. The majority of the condition monitoring devices requires low voltage electrical power for operation. Some systems include other components that also utilize electrical power.
Batteries provide a limited capacity, which dictates a limited supply and thus a limited run time. Obtaining power from a commercial utility source can be costly, particularly for remote installations. Transferring electrical power from a commercially available source can require running extensive and costly power cabling and support equipment. Maintenance of these systems must be considered. Replacement of batteries incurs both parts and labor costs. These concerns are aggravated for temporary installations.
A portion of the bearings generates a significant amount of heat. These bearings include heat dissipation or thermal transfer systems. One exemplary thermal transfer system includes one or more integrated liquid cooling passages. Liquid coolant is pumped through the integrated liquid cooling passages extracting heat from the bearing or bearing assembly.
Turbines are commonly used for a variety of applications. One application converts energy from a flowing liquid to electrical energy. A well-known example is a windmill. Another well-known example is a dam.
More compact, lower level power generators have been integrated into home appliances such as faucets, shower heads, and the like, where power is converted from the flowing water to electrical power, which is subsequently used to illuminate LED's.
A variety of parameters are monitored to continuously determine a condition of a bearing. The application of the bearing may limit the availability or ease of providing electrical power to the sensors used to monitor the condition of the bearing. What is desired is a power generating system that can be integrated into the bearing assembly to harvest power from the bearing assembly and utilize the harvested power to generate electrical energy.